Check how much Housing Benefit you can get

Your Housing Benefit will usually be limited to enough to pay for a bedsit or a room in a shared house or flat. This means that if you rent a 1-bed flat by yourself, your payment might not cover your full rent.

The limit won’t usually apply if you:

• have someone else living with you – for example a child or a flatmate

• are a foster carer

• are at least 16 years old and lived in homeless hostels for at least 3 months

• are at least 25 years old and have left prison under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)

If you used to be in care, the limit might not apply until you’re 25 years old.

If you’re disabled

The limit won’t usually apply if you get one of these benefits:

• the standard or enhanced rate of the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment

• the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance

• Attendance Allowance

• Pension Age Disability Payment

• Armed Forces Independence Payment

• the standard or enhanced rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment

The limit will still apply if someone gets Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment for looking after you.

You can get Housing Benefit for a 2-bed flat if someone has to regularly stay over in a separate room so they can give you overnight care.

You’ll automatically qualify for the maximum amount of Housing Benefit for your type of property if you claim:

• Universal Credit

• Income Support

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• the guarantee part of Pension Credit

Some things could still stop you from getting the maximum amount. For example, if someone lives with you who could help pay the rent or you have a spare room.

Check if the benefit cap applies to you

There’s a limit to the amount of benefits you can get each week. This is called ‘the benefit cap’.

The benefit cap doesn’t apply to you if:

• you get working tax credits

• you get certain benefits because you’re sick or disabled – check the list of benefits on GOV.UK

• you’re over the qualifying age for Pension Credit – check your qualifying age on GOV.UK

• you live in temporary accommodation

• your landlord's a charity and they give you care or support – for example if you live in sheltered accommodation

The benefit cap also doesn’t apply if you or your partner stopped work less than 9 months ago. You must have worked for 50 weeks in the year before you stopped working and not got Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.

You can check how the benefit cap will affect you if you're not sure.

If the benefit cap applies to you, your total payments can't be higher than the cap – even if you’re eligible for the full amount of Housing Benefit.

If you live with your partner, your local council will look at how much they earn when deciding your Housing Benefit payments.

The council will also look at the income of any other adults you live with who aren’t tenants or boarders – for example a grown-up son or daughter. They’re known as ‘non-dependants’.

You won’t usually get the maximum amount of Housing Benefit if a non-dependant lives with you.

Your nearest Citizens Advice can help you work out if you should get the maximum amount of Housing Benefit.

You’ll automatically qualify for the maximum amount of Housing Benefit for your type of property if you claim:

• Universal Credit

• Income Support

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• the guarantee part of Pension Credit

Some things could still stop you from getting the maximum amount. For example, if someone lives with you who could help pay the rent or you have a spare room.

Check if the benefit cap affects you

There’s a limit to the amount of benefits you can get each week. This is called ‘the benefit cap’.

The benefit cap doesn’t apply to you if:

• you get working tax credits

• you get certain benefits because you’re sick or disabled – check the list of benefits on GOV.UK

• you’re over the qualifying age for Pension Credit – check your qualifying age on GOV.UK

• you live in temporary accommodation

• your landlord’s a housing association and they give you care or support – for example if you live in sheltered housing

The benefit cap also doesn’t apply if you or your partner stopped work less than 9 months ago. You must have worked for 50 weeks in the year before you stopped working and not got Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance.

You can check how the benefit cap will affect you if you’re not sure.

If the benefit cap applies to you, your total payments can't be higher than the cap – even if you’re eligible for the full amount of Housing Benefit.

You might not get the maximum amount of Housing Benefit because what’s known as ‘the bedroom tax’ or 'spare room subsidy' will apply.

Your local council should give you an extra payment to cover the amount that’s taken off for the bedroom tax. It’s called a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP).

You can check if the bedroom tax applies to you.